Coil cradle



F. KOCH COIL CRADLE Dec. 23, 1952 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed May 6, 1949 INVENTOR.

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Dec. 23, 1952 F. KOCH 2,622,816

con. CRADLE Filed May6. 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Six INVENTOR. f'fiz-vz-w/a/r A26 Patented Dec. 23, 1952 COIL CRADLE Frederick Koch, Sparta, N. J assignor to Associated Patentees, Inc., Ampere, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application May 6, 1949, Serial No. 91,663

i Claims.

The invention here disclosed relates to coil cradles, particularly for handling large, heavy coils of strip material.

Heretofore it has been necessary to use a chain hoist or the like to lift the coils of stock and lower them into position in the cradle. This has been a difficult, dangerous job and these hoisting and lowering operations frequently distorted the coil out of round and may injure the outer layers of stock, particularly if it is thin, flexible material.

Special objects of the present invention are to eliminate the need for such hoisting and lowering operations and to avoid the objections noted.

As a part of these objects it is a purpos of the invention to enable the coils of stock to be simply rolled into position and the cradle then to be operated to back up the coil off the floor and support it for feeding of the stock into whatever machine it is to be used.

Special objects of the invention are to enable the coil lifting and positioning operations to be performed either by hand or by power, or partly by both, as seems best under the circumstances.

Further special objects f the invention are to effect automatic control of the power lift mechanism so as to maintain the top of the coil where the stock is taken off, at substantially a constant level.

Other important objects of the invention are to provide feed mechanism which will automatically unwind the stock and feed it to the operating machine as demandedv Further special objects of the invention are to provide satisfactory means for guiding and directing the coil into proper lifting position in the machine and to guard the coil against springing open once it is lifted and in position for feeding.

Another special object of the invention is to provide the machine as indicated, in a compact, mobile unit which, if desired, may be moved to the location of a heavy coil and then, after taking on the coil, be shifted to transport the coil to the machine and lined up in cooperative feeding relation to the machine.

Other desirable objects and the novel features of construction, combinations and relations of parts through which the purposes of the invention are attained are set forth or will appear in the course of the following specification.

The drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification illustrate a present commercial embodiment of the machine. Structure, however, may be modified and changed as regards the immediate illustration, all within the true intent and broad scope of the invention as hereinafter defined and claimed.

Fig. 1 in the drawings is a side elevation of the machine carrying a coil in feeding relation;

Fig. 2 is a view of the feeding-out end of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on substantially the plane of line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged broken sectional detail of one of the sliding coil supporting shoes and related parts.

Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram for the machine illustrated.

Basically the invention comprises a pair of inclined ways i spaced in parallel relation to permit a coil of stock 8 to be rolled into position between the same, with a pair of shoes 9 riding said ways and having journal bearings l0 open at the top to come under and pick up the ends of a supporting shaft H centered in the coil.

The core structure l2 for centering the supporting shaft in the coil is not shown in detail since this may vary quite widely and be, for instance, of the collapsible-expansible or tapered type.

The supporting shaft II is shown in Fig. 3 as having shoulders i3 engageable with the inner sides of the shoes for centering the shaft and its supported load, and the shoes are shown as having flanges I4 engaging over the edges of the ways I, which are shown in the form of upwardly faced channel tracks.

These channel trackways provide space for the operating screw shafts l5 which engage the dependent screw threaded nut portions 56 of the shoes.

The screw shafts [5 are shown supported at the top in thrust bearings H, Fig. 2, and the engagement of these screws in the shoes may provid suflicient bearings for the lower end of the screws.

The upper ends of the screw shafts are shown as carrying bevel gears l8 in mesh with bevel gears I9 on a cross shaft 20.

The latter is shown as provided at one end with a hand wheel 2| for enabling. the shoes to be preliminarily adjusted or, when desired, to be shifted one way or the other by hand Power drive for the lifting and lowering mechanism is provided in the present illustration by an electric motor 22 mounted at the top of the machine and operating through reduction gearing at 23, a shaft 24 parallel with the cross shaft 23 and connected therewith by chain 25 and sprocket gears 26, 21.

A jaw clutch 23, Fig. 2, is shown provided on the counter-shaft 24 for coupling and uncoupling the drive connections to cross shaft 20, these clutch operations being effected by a shifter yoke 29 pivoted at 39 and operated by a push-pull handle 3|.

The coil lifting motor 22 may be controlled by a suitable switch or switches conveniently located on the machine, as indicated at 32, Fig. 1.

Additionally, or alternatively, the lifting motor 22 may b controlled automatically by levering switch mechanism shown in the form of a feeler 33 positioned to engage the upper reach of the stock. feeding off the coil and arranged to throw a switch 34 to start the motor as the coil lowers to a predetermined point and to stop the motor when the coil has been brought back up again to the desired feeding-off level.

Suitable feeding-off mechanism preferably is provided and the same is here illustrated as a pair of geared together feed rolls 35 driven by chain and gear connections 36 from a motor 31 mounted below the same on the back of the machine.

This feed motor also and may preferably be automatically controlled as by means of a stock feeler 38, Fig. 1, positioned to engage in a bight or loop 39 in the stock feeding out of the machine being serviced, and arranged to operate a switch 46 to start this motor as the loop tautens and to stop the motor as the loop slackens.

To aid in guiding and directing th coil into the cradle, side guides or guards may be provided as indicated at 4|, spaced apart at the entrance between the inclined ways and shown as having flaring extensions 42 at such entrance to assist in directing the coil into the machine, or in respect to the coil if the machine be shifted to the coil.

These side guides are shown in Figs. 2 and 3 as having base flanges 43 resting on the base 44 of the machine and adjustably secured by bolts 43 through transversely slotted portions of said flanges. The upper, innermost ends of the side guides are shown as braced by engagement between the shoulders 45 on a bar 46 supported and held between the side walls 41 and 48 forming portions of the main frame.

The base plate 44 and upright side walls 48 provide a substantial, rigid frame supporting the inclined tracks 1 and other parts of the machine in compact, unitary relation.

This entire structure may constitute a portable, mobile unit and may, if desired, be equipped with casters or rollers, as indicated in broken lines at 49 in Fig. 1. To prevent undesirable loosening and unwinding of the coil, a guard may be provided such as indicated at 56, Figs. 1 and 3, of sufficient arcuate extent to properly confine the coil.

This guard is shown as supported at the entrance or open end of the machine by side arms pivoted on the shoes at 52 in back of the bearings in, so as to swing down and rest on the supporting shaft II when the coil is in position and so as to permit the guard to be swung upward, out of the way, when a coil is being placed in or removed from the machine.

The loading of the cradle is quickly and easily accomplished by rolling the coil into position and then operating the lifter shoes to pick up the spindle which has been center d in the coil. This eliminates the need for hoisting operations and saves the coil from the wear and tear resulting from such treatment.

The coil supporting tracks being inclined upwardly away from the entrance end of the machine, carry the load well over the base of the machine, providing desirable stability.

The wiring diagram, Fig. 5, indicates in simplified form how the feeler 33 operates switch 34 to control the motor 22 for effecting the raising or leveling of the coil, how the switch 32 is operable manually for controlling this motor to raise or lower the coil, and how the feeler 38 operates switch 40 to control the motor 3! to drive the drawing-out rolls 35.

What is claimed is:

1. A coil cradle, comprising inclined ways spaced in parallel relation to admit a coil rolled into position therebetween, shoes riding said ways and having open top journal bearings to engage under and lift a shaft centered in the coil, means for raising or lowering said shoes in unison, a motor for operating said raising and lowering means and a stock feeler engageable with material unwinding from the top of the coil for regulating operation of said motor to maintain position of the top of the coil at a substantially constant level.

2. A coil cradle, comprising inclined ways spaced in parallel relation to admit a coil rolled into position therebetween, shoes riding said ways and having open top journal bearings to engage under and lift a shaft centered in the coil, means for raising or lowering said shoes in unison, stock feeding rolls mounted at the back of said ways in position to take stock from the top of the coilsupported on said shoes, a motor for driving said rolls mounted below the same, means for controlling said motor, a second motor for driving said means for raising and lowering the shoes and a feeler for controlling said second motor and positioned to engage the stretch of stock extending from th top of the coil to said stock feeding rolls and governing the lifting of the coil to maintain the stretch of feeding stock at a substantially constant level.

3. A coil cradle, comprising inclined ways spaced in parallel relation to admit a coil rolled into position therebetween, shoes riding said ways and having open top journal bearings to engage under and lift a shaft centered in the coil, means for raising or lowering said shoes in unison, a motor for operating said raising and lowering means a stock feeder at the back of said ways arranged to unwind the stock from the coil, a motor for operating said stock feeder means for controlling said stock feeder motor and a mobile frame mounting all said parts and whereby after loading the cradle maybe shifted into cooperative relation with a punch press or other machine and then be operated to feed said machine.

4. A unitary self-leveling, automatic feed, coil cradle comprising in combination with a supporting shaft and means for centering the same in a coil of stock, vertically operable lifters having open bearings to engage the ends of said supporting shaft, power means for raising said lift-- ers, means for controlling said power means to maintain the top of a coil supported by said lifters at a substantially constant level, feed means for unwinding th stock from the top of the roll. means controlling said feed means in accordance with demand for the stock and a mobile frame carrying all said parts in the relation described and mounted on rollers enabling the cradle to be shifted and operated to pick up a coil and then be shifted to an operating machine and operated 6 to feed stock from the lifted coil into the ma- Number Name Date chine. 478,255 Edwards et a1 July 5, 1892 FREDERICK KOCH. 1,304,565 Henderson May 27, 1919 1,339,460 Langston May 11, 1920 REFERENCES CITED 5 1,605,568 Sieg NOV. 2, 1926 The following references are of record in the 1,655,226 Higgins et 3, 1923 fil of t t t; 1,742,029 Fallot Dec. 31, 1929 1,930,405 Vickery Oct. 10, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,075,192 George Mar. 30, 1937 Number Name Date 10 471,788 Farnsworth Mar. 29, 1892 

